Is BMX Riding a Good Exercise?

Moderate intensity of BMX riding burns about three hundred calories in one hour. However, the amount of energy you burn while cycling depends mostly on the intensity level. An average-sized BMX rider (155 lbs.) will burn the previously mentioned calories ( about 300 kcal) if he pedals at 13 miles per hour rate approximately.

Many BMX riders have the adrenaline rush going through their veins while performing tricks in a skatepark or on a BMX track. This hyper-sports-activity is vital for your blood circulation.

Consequently, it helps to fight heart-related diseases, and it improves your breathing. Therefore, BMX riding is a great exercise if safety measures are well adopted.

What Are The Health Benefits of Riding a BMX Bike?

BMX Riding, as an exercise, gives you the following benefits:

First-rate heart health

BMX riding reduces the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
Blood circulation improves in the whole body.

BMX riding is excellent for fighting lower back issues

It keeps your posture in the optimum position.
It is crucial for the health of your spine.
Riding a BMX strengthens the muscles in the lower back.

BMX riding helps you build a better mental health

Reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.
Elevates your confidence level.
Swings your mood for the best.
Develops bonding with the community and fellow riders.
It enhances your happiness levels.

BMX riding is a fun way to reduce weight

Going to the gym could become boring, BMX will never be boring.
It Burns a sufficient amount of calories.
A better blood circulation fights obesity.
Helps lead an active and fit lifestyle.
Riding decreases body fat.

It is great to support people with joint diseases and conditions

It improves flexibility.
BMX riding also enhances joint mobility.
It also strengthens your bones.

Riding a BMX will tone up your muscles

Especially, the lower back muscles will be strengthened.

Can You Lose Weight Riding a BMX Bike?

Frankly speaking, how often do you see an obese person riding a BMX bike? Next to none, right? Not that BMX riding is not for heavily built people, but most guys and girls riding a BMX have a healthy weight and are fit. It is for this reason that BMX riding leads to a healthy or healthier lifestyle.

When a person rides a BMX bike five days a week, their body fat burns quicker. Cycling on a BMX bike helps your basal metabolic rate. The most crucial body part (to remove fat) is a person’s belly. An active metabolism reduces belly fat. Subsequently, body fat will reduce with regular BMX riding.

Furthermore, many people (including myself) typically cannot find enough motivation to run on a treadmill or workout in the gym. Whereas BMX biking is a competitive, exciting sport, and it involves a community of bikers. This community motivates each other, and BMX riders always come back home wanting more.

This serves as an extra motivation for a BMX rider to revisit the skatepark or keep practicing their skills and stunts. BMX riding is genuinely a fun sport. Therefore, people can stick to this BMX routine for a longer time and get healthier while doing something they love.

Here is an example of a routine you can follow if you want to reduce your weight with BMX riding:

Start slowly. Do not pedal very fast in your first week; this will burn you out before showing real effects on your body mass.
It would be best if you gradually increased the intensity of your biking pattern.
Please note that if you keep on pedaling slowly, it will not reduce your weight effectively.
We recommend watching YouTube videos about high-intensity interval training. Try searching “HIIT Technique for BMX riding.”
It is crucial to treat BMX riding as an aerobic exercise or a proper workout. Moreover, try to extend your workout timing each time you ride.
Build up your stamina and then go further.
Once you have passed the previously mentioned stages, you’re ready to start cross-training.

Firstly, you need to research your body mass index. Make a chart of your weight goals and the calorie intake for each day. Figure out how many calories you need to burn every day to reach that ultimate weight goal.

Moreover, it is also crucial to follow a healthy diet and avoid fast foods. Once you have figured that out, you can determine your BMX riding time and plan it in your daily or weekly schedule. The rule of thumb is, you ride for as many miles as needed to burn those extra calories.

How Many Calories Does Riding a BMX Bike Burn?

If your goal is to reduce weight by burning calories through riding a BMX bike, you have chosen quite a fun way to achieve your goal. It is crucial to know that a new person to fitness routines should not start by riding on trails. Expert BMX riders recommend riding trails for people already having a medium fitness level.

Moreover, BMX riding is a brilliant way to stay in shape. The improved blood flow and enhanced cardiovascular activity ensure a healthy body. Once you embody the BMX life, the calories are destined to burn.

The amount of calories burned after riding a BMX bike depends on the following factors:

Weight (The amount of energy consumed depends a lot on the person’s weight).
Gender (Male or Female).
Speed (More speed needs intense riding; hence burns more calories).

For example, according to a Calories Burned Calculator, if a BMX rider weighs 220 lbs., a 30-minute BMX session will burn around 450 Calories. (459 kcal). Similarly, as per the Harvard health publications, If a person rides for a half-hour at 155 lbs. of body weight, he will burn 298 kcal. Please note that the average time it takes a beginner to ride BMX for 30 minutes is 6 miles.

(These figures assume an average speed of 12 mph of the BMX)

What Is The Weight Limit For a BMX Bike?

A BMX bike’s weight limit depends mainly on the frame size, Top Tube length, and tire dimensions. For your understanding, here is a complete chart for BMX weight limits.

BMX Rider Height	BMX Rider Age	BMX Rider Weight	Frame Size	Length of Top Tube	Tire Size
Below 3’ 8”	Below 5	Less than 60 lbs.	Micro Mini	Less than 18’’
Below 4’ 6’’	Below 7	60 lbs. to 75 lbs.	Mini	18 inches	1.1/8’’
Below 4’ 10’’	Below 10	Less than 110 lbs.	Junior	18’’ to 18.5’’	1.3/8’’
Below 5’ 2’’	Below 13	Less than 130 lbs.	Expert	19’’ to 19.5’’	1.3/8’’
Below 5’ 5’’	Below 13	Less than 150 lbs.	Expert XL	19.5’’ to 20’’	1.5’’
Below 5’ 10’’	Above 13	Every Size	Pro	20.5’’ to 21”	1.75’’
Below 6 ft	Above 13	Fit for all	Pro XL	21’’ to 23’’	1.75’’
Above 5’ 10’’	Above 13	Fit for all	Pro XXL	More than 21.5’’	1.75’’

What Size BMX Do Adults Ride?

There is a bar between the seat and the handlebar; this bar is called a top tube. The top tube length is the principal determinant of whether adults can ride it or not. Although it depends on personal preference and comfort zone, typical top tube length measurements are suitable for an adult’s height.

Here is a rule of thumb:

If an adult is 5 ft. tall, the length of the tube should be 18.5 inches. Moreover, as a general guide, adult riders with 6 ft. and taller will need a top tube length of 22 inches. With that being said, it all depends on the BMX rider and their preference.

The top tube length ensures an adult BMX rider’s safety so that there is no contraction between the knees and the handlebar. While stunt performance is a byproduct of BMX riding, it is essential to keep it safe.

If your legs would get in the way of the handlebar, there is a massive risk of tumbling over and getting hurt. Hence, one should look carefully at this factor before buying a BMX bike.

After all, BMX riding is for all ages. It is not only a child’s or teenage kids’ sport but now has made its place in the Olympics. Adults all over the world are forming BMX tribes, and the game is ever so advanced. Fun should never stop for adults.

Furthermore, it is an excellent exercise for the rider. As previously discussed, adults should treat it as an aerobic exercise. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the size dimensions and which BMX size is suitable for your height.

One thing an adult BMX rider must realize is the model variation of BMX bikes. If you want to ride a BMX after ages of not riding, it would be best if you know what’s going on in today’s BMX world.

It is not the same anymore as the BMX bikes you grew up riding. Presently, most BMX companies give out the accurate and latest information for new riders. These BMX companies demonstrate what should be the weight of a rider, the height, and other variations.

It would help if you looked that up before buying a BMX bike and use it as a form of exercise.

Are BMX Bikes Good For Long Distance?

Well, the answer would be incomplete if we did not discuss BMX bike specifications. Typically, BMX bikes have a single gear, and BMX bikes are built for an aggressive way of riding a bike, so a BMX bike could be uncomfortable on long rides.

How often do you see someone going to his or her office on a BMX bike? Therefore, you can never judge a fish’s ability by its ability to climb trees. BMX riding is for fun, style, fitness, tricks, and community building. BMX riding is a lifestyle. Know your priorities and enjoy BMXing.

Nonetheless, many people who are into this BMX lifestyle commute on BMX bikes, as it gets the job done (and looks really cool, by the way), just the same as a typical bicycle. If you want to cover long distances, you have to like the BMX bike way more than the ride. However, riding long distances best matches with a bike with front suspension.

It is crucial to understand the role of a BMX. These motocross bicycles are basically for sprints and tricks. As previously mentioned, these bikes don’t have suspensions, and one gear is not much help for longer distances.

If you want a fast and short sprint, you ought to choose a BMX bike. At the same time, you can handpick a bicycle with gears and suspension that is excellent for riding long distances.

Does BMX Build Muscle?

The simplest answer is; yes, BMX bikes help you build muscles. However, the ideal BMX bike for muscle building should have the following features:

Your bike should be hills-ready and able to cross extremely sharp curves.

It should also have the ability to handle dirt tracks. Racing on dirt tracks is far superior for muscle building than a “skatepark-ready” BMX bike.

Let’s understand the theory behind BMX building muscles:

When you push down the pedals or pull them up, that causes friction. This resistance builds muscles in your body, most significantly, the lower body muscles.

A BMX rider is doing high speeds, rough terrains, gain and maintain speed, etc. These actions require a lot of physical exertion. As you know, BMX riding is more than just throwing the bike in the air. It takes a lot of precision, strength, skills, and determination.

Is BMX a Dangerous Sport?

BMX is a part of the extreme sports genre. This sport tests the BMX rider’s abilities to his or her limits. With skill, BMX riding becomes more precise and accurate. Still, it is a dangerous sport.

Undoubtedly, BMX ranks as one of the most dangerous sports of the Olympic Games.

Once you are on your BMX, your body becomes a shock absorber, literally. Certain stunts of BMX riding are ridiculously dangerous. For instance, if you dive into a half-pipe or stay up in the air during a dirt jump.

BMX is a more dangerous sport than skateboarding or surfing because it is more challenging to bail from a bike than a skateboard. Moreover, if there is a crashing situation, the BMX frame and parts are heavy and could hurt you more than a skateboard.

Are BMX Bikes Expensive?

If your intention of buying a BMX bike is a means to exercise, you should prefer a BMX bike from a respected company.

Although BMX bikes can be expensive, you can still find a good bargain of a full Chromoly frame at $250. Therefore, it is essentially not an overly expensive sport for a beginner. However, a pro will need advanced features and a “pro” version of BMX, which is more expensive.

Furthermore, it depends on your goals. If you want to build muscles with a BMX bike, you should purchase a BMX Dirt Bike. For cardiovascular exercise (aerobics), you can choose a Flatland or Freestyle Bike. These bikes can range from $250 to $1000.

Can You Ride a BMX Bike on the Road?

Since there is no law against riding a BMX bike on the road, yes, you can! However, a BMX bike’s main purpose is not commuting or traveling on the road for long durations.

Typically, an adult stands up while pedaling on the BMX. This posture is essential for higher speeds. However, you cannot keep on standing while riding on the road for two miles.

Furthermore, BMX bikes are usually not foldable. If you want to travel in urban areas, you might need to ride a bus or a train on your daily commute. Although there is a space on most city buses to bring your BMX, it might be a challenge going in and out of busses or stations.

If you don’t like, want, or aren’t able to travel with public transport and need a cool, urban ride, you can always buy a Kick Scooter.

If you go to your office on a bicycle daily, you might surprise your colleagues arriving at work with a BMX – an absolute life goal!

Conclusion

BMX riding is a robust sport, and it is a brilliant exercise for your physical and mental health. When you ride a BMX, you are constantly lifting, pulling, and balancing the bike. A bunny hop is the most common trick of BMX riding, and it is essentially a deadlift. BMX riding is a demanding sport, which helps you keep fit and strong while having so much fun.

Ruben

I always had a thing for cycling sports and love almost anything that involves bikes and boards. I work part-time as a designer in the tech industry and work on my blogs whenever I can.